Audio Materials Science

Viable Superconducting Material Created at Low Temperature and Low Pressure
Researchers from the University of Rochester and Georgetown University have achieved a groundbreaking feat by developing a nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (NDLH) superconducting material that operates at 20.5ºC and 10 kilobars of pressure. Detailed in a Nature publication, this breakthrough offers promising applications in efficient energy storage and advanced computing technology. The scientists created a gas mixture containing 99% hydrogen and 1% nitrogen, which reacted with lutetium for two to three days at 200ºC, yielding a lustrous blue compound. Upon compression, the material transformed visually, transitioning from blue to pink with the onset of superconductivity, followed by a bright red non-superconducting metallic state, dubbed Reddmatter. This innovation sets the stage for superconducting consumer electronics, energy transfer lines, transportation solutions, and improved magnetic confinement in fusion. The team also envisions harnessing machine-learning algorithms to identify other potential superconducting materials from diverse element combinations.
https://youtu.be/WLtdP2D8L0A

Viable superconducting material created at low temperature and low pressure In a historic achievement, University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for prac...

Speaker Applications Using Alpine HX5 Ultra Strong Lightweight Nanocomposite. An extensive Market Update feature article on Speaker Technology was published in the January 2022 of AudioXpress magazine, highlighting a couple of exciting technologies and materials that should be on the radar of loudspeaker designers.
In that feature, Mike Klasco discusses a lightweight military aviation-grade nanocomposite from Alpine Advanced Materials, named HX5, which he explains in more detail in a dedicated online piece.
HX5 may be an interesting alternative to beryllium and high-performance aluminum alloys used in woofer, midrange, and full-range cones, and the material is an obvious candidate for enclosures and cabinets. Exciting stuff!
https://www.menloscientific.com/single-post/speaker-applications-using-alpine-hx5-ultra-strong-lightweight-nanocomposite

Speaker Applications Using Alpine HX5 Ultra Strong Lightweight Nanocomposite Speaker Applications Using Alpine HX5 Nanocomposite. This is a lightweight and ultra-strong material that should be on the radar of loudspeaker designers. I explain HX5 in more detail in a dedicated online piece, available here.

Happy New Year!
Here’s to New Discoveries and Infinite Possibilities!
https://www.menloscientific.com/materials

MoS2 Superconductivity Breakthrough
For the first time, researchers at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (University of Basel) have equipped an atomically thin semiconductor with superconducting contacts. "In a superconductor, the electrons arrange themselves into pairs, like partners in a dance — with weird and wonderful consequences, such as the flow of the electrical current without a resistance," explains Dr Andreas Baumgartner. "In the semiconductor molybdenum disulfide, on the other hand, the electrons perform a completely different dance, a strange solo routine that also incorporates their magnetic moments. Now we would like to find out which new and exotic dances the electrons agree upon if we combine these materials."
This video from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute shows the elaborate fabrication process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsjOtEsh7qA

Ultrathin semiconductors electrically connected to superconductors For the first time, SNI researchers (University of Basel) have equipped an atomically thin semiconductor with superconducting contacts. In this video, they s...

Natural fiber composites are cost effective, lightweight and eco-friendly solutions. Different material constituents absorb different frequency ranges, so the composites can be engineered to a wide range of sound absorbing and noise control applications. Sound absorption depends on properties such as porosity, since acoustic energy is converted to heat at the pores’ walls due to thermal and viscous losses.
https://www.audiomaterialsscience.com